cris well

I've been reading up about changing the bushings and I see that is is not so easy.

Would it be any easier to change just the rubber part without chiseling out the sleeve?

Would the new rubber slide in easier in an old sleeve than a new sleeve?

Has anyone ever done this before?

My drivers side is the worst one but the pass side is not too far from needing replaced also.

LadyKenai

ive messed with that for a bit but dont think its possible to just take the rubber out its pressed in the sleeve with quite some pressure but cant say for sure ..
when replacing my upper control arm bushings at the axle side i used just a c-clamp for hours but didnt succeed it def needs to be punched out unless someone else has a trick to that.

- Marc

PatHenry

It might be easier to just replace the whole control arm.

The arms are usually sold with the bushing already pressed in and are surprisingly less $$ than one would think.

Check rock auto.

jordan96xj

PatHenry, On the upper control arms, the bushings on the axle end of the arm are pressed into the axle brackets instead (they are part of the axle assembly, not actually in the control arm). That is why they are a bit harder to do, and the space to work is quite limited.

fb97xj1

The rubber is usually bonded to both the sleeve and the shell. I didnt know they sold just the rubber. Poly yes, but rubber. ???

If you are replacing the rubber with poly that reuses the factory shell and sleeves, you could burn the rubber out using a torch, which is often very messy. Or you can drill a couple holes in the rubber, and keep working at them until you can push or pry the rubber out. Ive tried this before on another vehicle and it was very labor intensive. It would be easier in the long run to pop the old bushings out using a balljoint press. Once they are out, clean up the holes. When pressing the new bushings in, make sure they go in straight. Check them as you go because if they go in crooked, they can bind and get stuck. A little lube helps.

PatHenry

Aha, I guess I should have read the post more thoroughly.

jordan96xj

No worries. Most people assume they would be similar to the lower arms. I myself wonder why AMC did it that way. (I like to think they had a good reason, but I don't much about it).

cris well

Thanks for all the tips.

And to fb97xj1---



I found these and they seem to have mixed results.






I took it by a local shop and he told me $250 total parts and labor for both sides to replace them with factory bushings. I'm thinking that isn't too bad of a price, now that I've found out a little more about what all is involved.